Month: October 2013

McGrath: “We Live in a Time in the United States Where Nothing Is What It Seems”

Every message we get from the mainstream media, or a White House press conference, or even from those we may talk to on a daily basis has been specifically designed to manipulate our sentiment and outlook. Most of the time, your friends and coworkers don’t even realize they’ve become a propaganda mouthpiece for an agenda set forth by government or business interests.

Even a precursory examination of what political leaders, economists, and the mainstream media have been telling us should make it clear that we are in the midst of one of the greatest mass deceptions of a country’s populace in the history of the world.

The lies and half truths now pervade every aspect of our lives.

As Charlie McGrath of Wide Awake News notes, the consequence is a population that has been left helpless and under the direct control of their masters.

We certainly live in a time here in the United States where nothing is what it seems… where the truth is taken and massaged and manipulated, spun up, and handed to the people… and it doesn’t bear any resemblance of truth by the time we evaluate and look into the details of whatever was being sold in the first place.

We live in a time of bait and switch, smoke and mirrors deception.

We’d be far better off now to go through a collapse then we will be five years down the road… because every single day that passes in this country the lies continue to mount up, but so does the debt, and so does the misery.

The mainstream establishment media wants you to believe we are on the cusp of a sustainable recovery, or in fact we are in one…

But you can’t hide the numbers…

…

The truth is we are not on the road to recovery. We are making a bunch of zombies out of the people of this nation and it’s becoming far, far worse.

Consider this… We have more people on the welfare rolls right now in the United States than we have full time workers… 49.2% of all Americans receive a check from the government… we have 1.2 million students who are homeless in this country, allegedly the richest country on earth… over half the students in this country are considered to be living in low income homes… the gap between the rich and the poor has never been as high as it is right now.

37% of the households are in poverty if you’re thirty years old or less… one out of every five households is on food stamps…

In the last 5 years of recovery… we have spent $3.7 Trillion in welfare programs… it’s $3.7 trillion of tokens… it’s $3.7 trillion of pacifiers… $3.7 trillion of control…

…

So, collapse now… absolutely it would be a bad thing. But if we wait into the future it’s going to be far, far worse.

In a truly free market our financial, economic and monetary systems would have already collapsed. The bad debt would have been wiped out of the system and nature would have re-balanced the equation.

Our political and economic leaders chose, instead, to manipulate everything from monetary policy to perception in an effort to make us believe the system has been stabilized.

It’s been smoke and mirrors from day one, and now millions more have been impoverished and put squarely under the thumb of government dependence.

In the year 2000, when the tech bubble stock market crash began, there were about 17 million Americans depending on government food stamp assistance. Today that number has nearly tripled, to 48 million people.

We now have more people than ever before helplessly dependent on the State.

What happens when America finally runs out of money and our creditors refuse to lend us more?

A decade ago the fall-out may have been manageable.

If it happened today, as noted by the US Secretary of the Treasury, it’d be a catastrophic collapse – the kind that leads to generations of despair, destitution, violence and a complete realignment of our political system.

Look Out Below: Home Sales Plunge: “Biggest Drop in 40 Months”

Last week the Sacramento Bee published a report indicating the foreclosure rates had returned to “normal” levels and that the, “foreclosure crisis that overwhelmed the greater Sacramento area for the past seven years has ended.” The Sacramento, California area was one of the hardest hit by the recession and foreclosures, with average home price declines reaching 50% in some areas.

If foreclosure rates were dropping, suggested analysts, it means that home sales must be rising again.

Except they didn’t.

According to a report from the National Association of Realtors home sales plunged significantly in the month of September. So much so that it is the single largest drop in signed home sales in 40 months.

The National Association of Realtors said Monday that its seasonally adjusted pending home sales index dropped 5.6 percent last month from August to a reading of 101.6. That also pushed the index below its year-ago level, the first time that’s happened in nearly 2 ½ years.

There is generally a one- to two-month lag between a signed contract and a completed sale. The drop suggests final sales will decline in the coming months.

The pending home sales data collapsed in September (and remember this is before the shutdown and was heralded at the time as buyers rushing to buy before the risk of the shutdown slowed acceptances). Affordability, argued by some serial extrapolators as still being ‘relatively’ positive – has drastically weighed on housing at the margin just as we argued previously. This is the first annual drop in 29 months, the biggest drop in 40 months, and the biggest miss against expectations in 40 months.

There are a variety of factors that may be at play here. Officially, the NAR reports that the drop in sales is a result of higher mortgage rates and the government shutdown.

Of course, the shutdown didn’t happened until the month after the drop, so there’s that.

Rising mortgage rates certainly play a role, and those rates only declined to begin with because of massive Fed monetary intervention.

In fact, the Federal Reserve has made so much money available, that many economists believe the debt party is back.

We are very closely approaching 2007 levels of personal and business debt. Likewise, we’re reaching new highs on stock market exchanges and home prices seemed to be recovering to boot.

But the real question is… how can we possibly be in a recovery when millions of Americans remain unemployed and underpaid?

How is it possible that home prices were rising and sales increasing while a record 107 million Americans received government distributions?

How can we be out of a recession when nearly 50 million Americans – fully 23 million households, or about 20% – are dependent on food stamps?

The answer is simple.

The entire economy is now a complete sham.

The CPI economic growth index indicates our economy is growing at a rate of about 2.5%. Simultaneously, however, the official rate of inflation is 2.5% (nearly 6% if welook at the real numbers). What this means is that not only is the economy not growing, we are actually in a growth decline of at least 3%.

By economists’ definition, a recession is a period of time in which we experience negative economic growth for two quarters. Given we’ve seen a real decline in economic growth for at least the last five years, does anyone still believe we’re out of the recession?

Or is it possible that we are in a greater depression that continues to chip away at Americans’ wealth?

When experts say we’re out of the recession because the economy is growing, it’s important to understand that the purported “growth” is simply inflation making it’s way into the system.

It’s the very same reason for why stock markets have once again reached record highs (none of these company’s earnings justify their outrageous stock prices!), and why home prices didn’t continue to collapse.

They injected the system, literally, with trillions of dollars to keep prices afloat and avoid a deflationary depression.

The consequence, however, will be continued inflation – likely hyperinflation – in years to come.

The only other option is to scale back the Fed’s monetary expansion – in which case we see a complete collapse in prices.

The bottom line is that all roads to true recovery will be extremely painful.

Subject: The Federal Reserve: The Skeleton Key Of Tyranny
——
Regardless of their political beliefs, more and more people are realizing
that there is something deeply wrong not only with this country, but with the
world, and that it is getting worse every day. We see more wars, a government
that’s growing to truly frightening levels, more taxes, jobs leaving the
country and unemployment in general, and absurdly high prices for just about
everything.

With so much obviously wrong, many people get discouraged or disgusted and
never find out that there is a single root cause to many of these problems
and it’s right under their nose. Without a doubt, the problem is our money
and the system by which it is created: the Federal Reserve.

Entire civilizations have risen and fallen because of their money, yet few
people know or even care where their money comes from or what is really is.
It’s an extremely difficult topic to discuss simply because any explanation
is long-winded and the process is intentionally confusing. But if power can
be bought – and everyone knows that a Senator is the best investment – then
the power to create money out of thin air is a magic trick that obviously
needs explaining. I understand that this is a long post, but please, take a
little time to read this or bookmark it and check it out again later because
it truly is the single most important issue facing not only us Americans but
every person in the world.

The Federal Reserve System
The Federal Reserve is a central bank, which means that, through legal tender
and anti-counterfeiting laws, the government has granted it a monopoly over
the issuance of our money, allowing the cartel to collect interest on money
it creates out of nothing. The Federal Reserve isn’t a public or private
institution, it’s both. It’s a cartel of private banks that could not exist
without the support of government force.

I’m really not going to go into the history of the Fed because that’s a
different topic than how it works and how it affects us. Rest assured that
it’s a truly intriguing and rarely-told bedtime story that spans hundreds of
years and features men who could buy entire countries, corrupt politicians,
and the enslavement of unborn generations.

But lets take a closer look at how it works…

The money-creation process starts when our politicians vote to spend more
money than the government actually has (or is willing to directly tax you and
I for fear of public resistance) in order to pay for current social programs,
wars, etc. But the money to pay for it all has to come from somewhere, right?
Do you think your taxes pay for it? Nope. The country wouldn’t be able to
afford almost any of it if that were the case (more on where your taxes do go
in just a moment). So where does the money come from?

The Federal Reserve can create money in three different ways. The first way,
and the one that needs the most explanation, is by purchasing Treasury Bonds
and other debts through a deliberately confusing and nonsensical process
called…

Open Market Operations

What happens is the US Treasury borrows money by issuing a glorified IOU
called a Treasury Bond. It’s a piece of paper with fancy designs around the
edges and a few signatures and it basically says “give us X amount of money
and we’ll pay you that amount back plus interest.” The trick is that you and
I, the American people, are responsible for the payment of the bond plus
interest because our government claims to represent us. This is the national
debt. A Treasury Bond is basically a promise to tax the American people for
the amount of the bond plus interest. This is what your tax dollars are
actually go toward: paying interest on our national debt (which is over $17
trillion dollars and growing).

But you and I don’t pay each other in Treasury Bonds. Where does the actual
money come in? Actually, by issuing the Treasury Bond, the government has
basically created cash; it just doesn’t look like cash. Yet. That’s where The
Fed comes in. To start the process, the US Treasury takes the bond it just
issued and holds a bond auction among the world’s largest banks. The banks
buy part of our national debt (Treasury Bonds) hoping to make money off the
interest payments (your taxes), and the government gets the money it needs to
pay for whatever crap (guns and butter).

These banks then give the bond to the Fed, which then writes a check on
itself for the amount of the bond. The Federal Reserve gives these checks
back to the banks, and the banks use them to buy more Treasury Bonds so the
government can keep spending on more crap. Once the government gets the
money, it spends it, sending out checks to its employees, welfare
beneficiaries, political allies, etc., dispersing throughout society and
eventually winding up deposited in private bank accounts like yours and mine.

Here’s the twist: the Fed doesn’t actually have any money to pay for the
bonds: its account balance is exactly zero. However, simply by writing out a
fraudulent check, the Federal Reserve is creating money out of nothing. While
you and I slave away our whole lives for money (and give the Dollar its only
value by doing so), the Fed can just counterfeit it. If you or I attempted
this, we’d be put in jail for fraud.

This is also where we get into the second way the Fed creates money:

Reserve Ratios

How this works is that in the Fed’s accounting books (if it actually has
any), the bond is now called a reserve, or the money available on demand.
Using these reserves as a “base,” they lend out 9 additional dollars for
every dollar they have in reserve. So if the Treasury Bond was for one
million dollars, the Federal Reserve gives the requested million to Congress,
but also creates nine million dollars more to lend to banks as the source of
every loan given to individuals or businesses in the country. It’s important
to note that although the Fed sets the reserve ratios for every bank in the
country, reserve ratios of money that can be created out of thin air are
largely pointless as the Fed can just create more money or alter reserve
ratios as they wish.

This process, where not only the Federal Reserve but every bank in the
country only has to keep on hand only a fraction of the amount of money they
have lent out, is called fraudulent fractional reserve banking, and it’s
entirely based on the premise that everyone will never come for their money
all at once.

So when you take your money to the bank and deposit, for example, $10,000,
the bank isn’t actually holding on to your $10,000 in a vault. It’s keeping
$1000 as a cash reserve, then loaning out $9000 from your deposit to various
business interests while filling the difference in your account with bank
credits/IOU’s that are supposed to be redeemable on demand for cash. If
someone comes in for a $9000 loan, the bank gives them the $9000 (while
charging interest) and uses that person’s debt as a fractional reserve to
loan out even more money. Deposits become loans, loans become deposits, and
this process snowballs as the money supply expands exponentially. This
expansion of the money supply is called inflation, but is not to be confused
with a general rise in prices (price inflation), which is simply an effect of
inflation.

The third way the Fed creates money is refreshingly simple:

The “Discount Window”

This is just the name of the process where banks can take out loans from the
Federal Reserve at extremely low interest rates and then loan out that money
at higher interest rates for a profit. Remember that the principles of
fractional reserve banking and reserve ratios also apply here, so basically
the Fed takes our tax dollars, multiplies them because it can, then gives
that money out to member banks so they can lend our money right back to us.

The Effects

While actual paper dollars only account for a small minority of the dollars
in existence (the majority are simply numbers in a book or digits on a
screen), this whole process amounts to little more than a more sophisticated,
confusing, and less obvious way of turning on a printing press and firing
cash out of a window or dropping money out of a helicopter. Sounds pretty
awesome, right? That is, until you consider that every time the Federal
Reserve does this, simple supply and demand dictates that the money that you
and I own is losing value – almost 10% a year (ShadowStats.com). Since the
Federal Reserve was chartered in 1913, the US Dollar has lost about 96% of
its value (www.usinflationcalculator.com [1]). That means an item bought in
1913 for just $1 would cost ~$23.50 now, all because of inflation.

It’s a hidden tax that affects the lower classes, those who save their money,
and those living on fixed incomes the most. On the other hand, the very
nature of The Fed and central banking in general funnels the wealth of the
masses to the people closest to the money-fountain, which are usually bankers
and other business leaders, politicians, and the ruling class in general,
which is exactly why you hear so often that 95% percent of the country’s
money is in only 5% of the people’s hands.

As the country goes further into debt and the Fed adds more money to the
economy, there will eventually come a point where there are so many dollars
in existence and the Fed is adding more at such a high rate that they simply
aren’t worth anything. This is called hyperinflation. Many countries
throughout history have experienced hyperinflation. In fact, fiat money
(money that has no value except for a government decree saying it’s worth
such-and-such amount) has a 100% failure rate throughout history.

Yes, that’s a pile of money-bricks. The sad thing is the children in the
picture are still poor as hell.
One country that experience hyperinflation was Germany after WW1. The German
government was forced to add so much money to the economy that the German
Mark became completely worthless. How worthless? So worthless that people
would have to take a whole wheelbarrow full of money just to buy a dozen eggs
or their take out their life’s savings to get a loaf of bread. So worthless
that adults used burned German Marks in their fireplaces for heat while
children took the notes and made kites out of them. That kind of worthless.

Another side effect of the Fed’s managing the money supply through reserves
is the process of booms and busts/depressions/recessions. As the Fed injects
money into the economy, it tricks people and businesses into making decisions
as if they have money that they don’t. They spend and take out loans because
money is cheap and plentiful. Prices rise. People keep spending and
borrowing. Prices keep rising. This is the boom or bubble.

Eventually prices rise to the point where even with all the cheap money,
people don’t feel comfortable paying the ridiculous prices and refuse to take
on new debt, instead choosing to pay off old debt. Since our money is based
on debt, when people pay back their debt, the money supply shrinks and prices
begin to fall, and suddenly the market collapses as the bubble bursts. This
is what happened recently in 2007/08, but the Fed has also been the reason
behind every economic recession/depression since 1913, including the Great
Depression.

Unwilling to let the free market’s self-cleaning mechanism work itself out,
the government then votes to spend even more money on bailouts, work
programs, welfare, war, etc. to resurrect the dying economy, digging the hole
even deeper and piling on more debt to be paid off by future generations.
These programs and policies never work, and the recession always gets worse
as the government gets involved.

What Now?

So let’s finally recap: the Federal Reserve System is a cozy partnership
between Big Banking and Big Government through which the banks can create
money out of thin air and collect interest on it while the politicians get
unlimited funding without the American people realizing that we’re being
taxed.

This virtually unlimited supply of money all but guarantees that our
government will continue to expand and expand for as long as the Federal
Reserve and fiat money exists, destroying our wealth and the wealth of those
who follow us.

The way I see it, there are three things that need to be done to fix the
problem with our money:

1. Abolish legal tender laws – Doing so will allow for consumer’s choice
through competing currencies. Legal tender laws are the backbone are the
Federal Reserve System. This is a necessary step before we go ahead and…

2. Abolish the Federal Reserve – This should be obvious by now. The Fed has
failed disastrously at its stated goals and fuels the creation of more debt.

3. Repudiate the National Debt – Why should you and I be forced to pay for
something by the politicians of a previous generation? This is nothing more
than politicians stealing from your kids and grandkids before they’re even
born.

No matter what, another economic crash is coming, and it’s going to be
enormous. It’s inevitable given our futility of our monetary system. In fact,
many countries around the world are beginning to view the Dollar as a ticking
time bomb. Just about every country in the world uses the US Dollar to back
their own currencies, and many, including Brazil, Russia, India, China, and
South Africa, have already begun to take steps away from the US Dollar.
China, in particular, is buying gold faster than it can be mined.

However, by following the above recommendations, we could at least minimize
the damage done by this inherently evil system by not allowing the hole to
get any deeper. Even more importantly we could bring freedom to our money by
taking away the guns that back it, and we could free unborn generations from
being born into serfdom. This isn’t just an important issue, it’s the issue,
and people need to know about it.

There are many books that do a better job explaining all this than I ever
could. Here are several that I personally recommend (click the links to buy
from Amazon and support SFPA):

End The Fed by Ron Paul
The Creature Of Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin
What Has Government Done To Our Money by Murray Rothbard

Also, here’s a great show by Mike Maloney, who correctly predicted the
2007-08 crash, explaining the Federal Reserve System and its effects. It’s
called “The Biggest Scam In The History Of Mankind”

In teaching workshops on how to buy foreclosure homes in Austin, TX (often listed on a foreclosure auctions report), I often write on the markerboard in big bold letters, “Gain They’re Trust to Close More Deals”.

The principle of gaining the trust of the Austin, TX homeowner threatened with foreclosure is a deal-maker. If they trust you, they are more likely to accept your offer. Besides that, if you have earned their trust by explaining their options to them, then if they choose to let the home go to auction where it will likely end up on a Austin, TX foreclosure auctions report (and you win it) they are much more likely to vacate the property without a fight. To learn more about Austin, TX foreclosures click this link.

1. Work with their Current Lender

Forbearance: An agreement between the lender and the borrower that reinstates the delinquent loan because the homeowner will put up an initial lump sum of the total delinquency and pay the rest over a period of time.

Loan Modification: A change in any of the terms of the original note. This includes decreasing the interest rate, re-amortizing the remaining balance, extending the term of the note.

2. Work with a New Lender in Austin, TX

Refinance: Where a new lender loan the borrower monies to pay off existing debt. This option is generally open to borrowers that face a temporary setback in their financial situation and can prove that they can afford the new mortgage payment. Most financial institutions will not loan to people unless they have the above mentioned criteria and at least 20% equity in the residence.

Junior Mortgage: Where a new lender will offer a second loan or junior lien in order to make up any back payments, late fees and other charges necessary to reinstate the loan. Rates are typically 12%-18% and terms are 5 to 10 years.

3. File Bankruptcy in an Austin, TX Court

Bankruptcy is a way for people who owe more money than they can pay right now, to either work out a plan to repay the secure creditors over time in Chapter 13 filings, or wipe out (discharge) most of their bill in a Chapter 7 filing. While the debtor is working out a plan, or the trustee is gathering the available assets to sell, the Bankruptcy Code provides that creditors must stop all collection efforts against the debtor. What happens to your bills, debts and house will be controlled by the Bankruptcy Code and the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy(the owner will NO longer have control over any of their assets). Bankruptcy will have a serious impact on the credit lives for the next 10 years.

4. Sell Their Home in Austin, TX

List with a Realtor in Austin TX on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service)- Due to the short foreclosure period in Texas, listing their home with an Austin, TX real estate broker and being able to close within 21 days is a very unrealistic task due to the new buyers financing. The process of lenders approving the buyers credit, appraising the house, completing underwriting, reviewing title, getting a new survey, getting payoff demands and drawing documents–can take 3-4 weeks to complete (assuming no problems pop up). Just because the property is under contract and scheduled to close will NOT stop the auction.

Sell to an Austin, TX Investor- Selling their house to an Austin, TX investor who offers ” cash at closing”; no new loan contingencies; no repairs to be made (AS IS); fast escrow; a for sure sale providing a fresh start with reputation and integrity intact would be their best option. Although the Austin, TX investor’s price is less, the Austin, TX investor can salvage the seller’s credit, bring loans current, rebuild seller’s credit by paying the sellers debt on time every month. This is a much BETTER solution than doing nothing and losing everything at the Austin, TX foreclosure auction.

5.Giving Up and Letting it Go:

Deed-in-Lieu: Borrower voluntary conveys the title (property) back to lender in lieu of the lender foreclosing. Most lenders would rather go through with the auction and clean title by extinguishing inferior liens.

Let it Go to Auction: Obviously, nothing good can come from this, the owner loses their home with no money, credit problems, hard to find new housing due to past history and the lender can sue for any deficiency. To learn more about investing in Austin,TX foreclosures click this link.

Every homeowner in Short Sale Realtor should be educated on their options to avoid a foreclosure in Short Sale Realtor. Many options are available to distressed homeowners however; short sales are becoming increasingly popular due to its abilities to assist homeowners in Short Sale Realtor. Short sales offer cash back incentives, a credit score that suffers far less than one of a foreclosure in Short Sale Realtor and the assistance of a Short Sale Realtor short sale specialist at no cost.

Something each and every homeowner in Short Sale Realtor worries about is how their credit will be affected once a short sale all is said and done. The truth is, a short sale itself may drop your credit score by 50 points, however it will the delinquent mortgage payments that do the most damage; each missed payment ranging around 30 points. When you compare a short sales versus a foreclosure you will see that a foreclosure may lower your credit score by 300+ points and sit on your credit report for up to ten years. A short sale in Short Sale Realtor will typically recover within two years while usually displaying paid as negotiated or settled in full on your credit report. A foreclosure in Short Sale Realtor also has the potential to hold you back from a certain career path because it is not uncommon for employers to do a credit check before making a decision.

One of the greatest benefits of a short sale is having an experienced Short Sale Realtor short sale Realtor assisting you throughout your short sale. The goal of a Short Sale Realtor short sale Realtor is to handle all negotiations on your behalf while working aggressively to get your home sold in Short Sale Realtor. A highly qualified Short Sale Realtor expert in short sales will be able to keep constant exceptional communication with all parties involved while offering their services to you, at no cost; your lender will typically pay all commission and closing costs. There is no reason to let your home in Short Sale Realtor go into foreclosure when you have options available and professionals who dedicate their lives to helping distressed homeowner.